Logan’s Protected
L.A. designer Karl Logan has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11, according to a statement released by his design firm. The announcement, made just one week before the California Collections Press Preview is set to begin, came as a shock to the local design community in part because Logan has been nominated for the Designer of the Year award given by the Mart. Logan and his two partners need additional capital to continue to finance expansion projects such as a men’s collection and future retail projects, according to partner Joe Morales. “We’re not going out of business, this an affirmation of our intent to go forward,” Morales said of the company’s Chapter 11 filing. In a separate written statement, Logan said his business is still in operation and that all shipments to retailers will be completed on schedule. His retail boutique in Santa Monica Place remains open, and the designer said he plans to participate in press week. “As far as the Spring ’90 preview is concerned, he’s having some difficulties, but his collection is completed, and everything is going according to plan,” said Jennifer Jackson of Miller/West Public Relations, who is coordinating the spring shows for the California Mart.
Rivers Resorts to Cashmeres
Joan Rivers has changed time slots on the talk show circuit, but not her dressing habits. She’ll wear the same pricey designer labels on her new afternoon show that she wore for her late-night gigs. Only now that she is on at a pre-5 hour, she’s had to abandon her cocktail frocks and evening outfits, taking solace in cashmeres and Calvin. “There is an incredible selection of casual stuff, Chanel, Hermes, some wonderful Donna Karan,” Rivers explained as she mentally leafed through her working wardrobe. Other labels, soon to be appearing on Rivers’ back, range from Giorgio Armani to Valentino, with all the biggies in between. She will borrow, not buy, the clothes from Barney’s in New York, the official outfitters for the show. (Before she moved to New York, her TV wardrobe came from the Amen Wardy boutique in Newport.) The Barney’s loaners are all returned, Rivers says. But she sometimes has a hard time parting with them. “There was this $4,000 Chanel suit,” she reminisced with a deep sigh, “God wanted me to have it, but the accountant didn’t.”
Time Is Right for Paris
London designer Katharine Hamnett tells Listen she will unveil her Spring ‘90s styles not in England but in Paris, at the French ready-to-wear shows in October. The precedent was set last spring, when Milan-based Romeo Gigli made the same move. And Hamnett’s press liaison, Nick Vison, predicts that more European designers will follow suit, “The time is right. We feel Paris is where everyone will show before long.” The open-trade agreement scheduled to go into effect across Europe in 1992 will make Paris the clearing house for all of European fashion, Vison and others believe. In a similar melting-pot move, New York designers Carmelo Pomodoro and Patricia Clyne will preview their spring lines in Los Angeles, not New York, as part of the Los Angeles press week.
Presidential Preservation
Even fashion needs a face lift now and then. Take the inaugural gowns of our country’s First Ladies, which are in dire need of a few nips and tucks. The Smithsonian Institution, which houses many of the gowns, has taken the preservation/restoration project under its wing. Six were restored last year. Those now slated for a little couturier TLC include gowns worn by Mary Todd Lincoln, Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison, among others. “Some of the older gowns slated for restoration are literally falling apart,” said Wanda Henderson, a representative for the project. “The work is so scientific and meticulous. The fabric has to be reproduced, threads must be sewn into the original needle holes.” The second annual Silver Kite gala, slated for Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Regent Beverly Wilshire, will supplement private donations in funding the restoration and preservation project. Serving as honorary committee members are former First Ladies Betty Ford, Pat Nixon, Jacqueline Onassis, “Lady Bird” Johnson, Rosalyn Carter and Nancy Reagan. Reigning First Lady Barbara Bush, also named to the committee, will be donating her gown to the Smithsonian at the end of this month, according to Henderson.
They Get the Picture
Some of the most desired faces behind the camera lens are teaming up to benefit City of Angeles Hospice and AIDS Project Los Angeles. Photographer luminaries Herb Ritts, Annie Leibovitz, Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton will be donating their photos to a gala auction at the Palace Monday night. An exhibit of the works to be auctioned is on display at the G. Ray Hawkins Gallery through today.
